…is happiness – according to the late Ken Dodd. And today is the UN International Day of Happiness. It’s also the Vernal Equinox, the day when the hours of daylight are equal to the hours of darkness. The end of winter: first day of spring. A day of balance and renewed energy.
It’s not unusual for there to be strong winds at the time of the equinox but I think Mother Nature must have blown herself out with all the gales of late because today it was very calm by the lake. I could sit and hear birdsong from all directions. Although I can recognise a fair few birds, I’m no expert on identifying their different sounds. I could hear the geese, of course, moorhens, coots, ducks and parakeets; a variety of song birds in the treetops and the tap tap tap of a woodpecker nearby. It was like having Nature’s orchestra playing for me as I sat and meditated. Bliss!
And I was thinking about bliss – another word for happiness – and wondering why we had to have a day that’s dedicated to happiness around the globe. It was the brain child of Jayme Illien. To spread happiness all round the world on the spring equinox each year. A laudable idea but it can also create a lot of pressure for those people who might not be feeling happy. They might have just lost a loved one, or been made redundant, or had their house repossessed. Expecting everyone to be happy on a specific day of the year is a tall ask.
I remember bumping into a friend some years ago. I told her that my husband – then aged 46 – had just been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer and given 2 – 5 years to live. I was very close to tears as I stood in our local high street and blurted out my sadness. She listened, nodded then said, `But you’re happy aren’t you?’
No – I wasn’t happy. I was sad, frightened, angry that this had happened and anxious beyond words that I was about to be widowed. Happiness didn’t even feature on the top 100 emotions I was experiencing at that moment.
And how do we define happiness anyway? Does it have to be roll-on-the-floor, split-your-sides, tears-rolling-down-your-face laughter? Or will contentment suffice? That calmness that infiltrates every cell of our being when we are at peace with life as I was this morning with my ornithological choir. I would suggest that it’s whatever we want it to be – a good book, a smile from a loved one, a faithful pet staring up at us adoringly, open water swimming, scoring a goal, coffee with friends – anything at all. As long as it’s genuine. I’m not big on pretending.
What I do know is that, however we define it, happiness is fleeting. Anyone who expects to be happy day in: day out, is deluding themselves. Happiness is often referred to as: a butterfly, which when pursued, seems always just beyond our grasp, but if we sit down quietly may alight upon us. But don’t expect it to stay. The only butterfly that stays in one spot is a dead one.
It’s foolish to go chasing happiness or trying to force it where it’s not appropriate: allow it to enter your lives for however fleeting a moment. Enjoy it while you can because we are all human. Our moods can and will change on a sixpence – it’s part of being alive. Tonight is the final super full moon of 2019 so don’t be surprised if you and everyone else is out there howling at it on International Happiness Day!
XVIII – The Moon,
And, if you’re wondering about my husband’s diagnosis – that was almost 9 years ago and today he’s defied all the odds and is in total remission.
So on this very auspicious day: Vernal Equinox, super full moon, and International Happiness Day, I say to everyone: be happy – but be real!
Reiki in Wanstead 